Pubdate: Sat, 24 Jun 2006
Source: Reno Gazette-Journal (NV)
Copyright: 2006 Reno Gazette-Journal
Contact: http://www.rgj.com/helpdesk/news/letter-to-editor.php
Website: http://www.rgj.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/363
Author: Jaclyn O'Malley
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm (Methamphetamine)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/women.htm (Women)

Series: Meth: Shattering Lives In Northern Nevada

A three-month Reno Gazette-Journal investigation found that 
methamphetamine's grip on the Truckee Meadows has become a stranglehold.

AS MORE AND MORE WOMEN GO TO PRISON FOR METH, RESOURCES TO HELP THEM 
ARE STRETCHED

Barbara Pierson is no clinical substance abuse expert.

But she is a former "crack head" and alcoholic who's been sober for 
nearly a decade.

These days, she calls herself a wounded healer. Pierson has used her 
own money and opened two homes in Sparks for transitional housing for 
women battling substance abuse, many of whom are mothers with 
methamphetamine addictions.

Pierson's homes are a welcome resource to the county, strapped for 
resources to support female drug addicts recently out of prisons, 
jails and treatment centers, treatment officials say.

The rates of women being incarcerated in the Washoe County Jail due 
to meth sales, trafficking and possession increased 523 percent 
during the last five years, according to the sheriff's office. 
Detention officials say this increase has prompted a need for an 
expansion in the jail.

In 2001, 141 were arrested for meth offenses compared to 878 in 2005. 
The rate had been steadily increasing between 3 and 44 percent 
between 2001 and 2004 before the spike in 2005.

Pierson is hoping to obtain non-profit status so her program, The 
Launching Pad, can qualify for grants. Her first home was opened 
January 2005 and the second in December 2005. The program typically 
lasts about 9 months, about the time it takes to complete the 12 
steps of recovery.

A live-in house manager is at each home and Pierson has daily contact 
with the women.

While her clients are working to maintain their sobriety, she said 
it's important they have a place to live safe from the temptation of 
drugs. The program is centered around the Alcoholics Anonymous 
12-step recovery system and clients are expected to attend five AA or 
Narcotics Anonymous meetings each week in addition to in-house 
meetings. The women have to get a sponsor and pay Pierson $135 rent 
per week, which goes toward maintaining the homes.

Included in their program is praying, working out and having weekly 
coaching sessions with Pierson. They also must have a job

Currently, Pierson has eight clients and is trying to remodel her 
second home to accommodate more.

Pierson, who counseled female inmates at the Washoe County Jail on 
substance abuse, noticed many of the women in her group had abused 
methamphetamine.

"One woman said meth was really a dream come true for women," Pierson 
said. "You can be a supermom and raise your family and be skinny. The 
crystal meth diet is more popular than Jenny Craig and you can cook 
it in your kitchen."

Perhaps the most troubling issue with her clients is the removal of 
their children due to their meth abuse.

"They are devastated, and so are the kids," she said. "It's a hard 
drug to kick and it takes every effort in the world. But after they 
lose their children, they do want to clean up."

Jena, a pregnant 21-year-old crystal meth addict who is recovering at 
Pierson's transitional home, gave birth to a boy last year with 
methamphetamine in his system. Her last name is being withheld 
because her recovery program is based on anonymity. Jena's mother now 
has custody of the boy, but Jena believes she will regain custody in 
the upcoming months.

"I did the drugs the whole time I was pregnant," she said. "I was on 
the streets, sleeping under stairways ... I would go to the pregnancy 
center right after I smoked meth. I knew I could be bad and I didn't care.

"I was high and the reality didn't hit," she said.

But Pierson said that now that Jena is out of the drug environment 
and supported by other women with similar battles, she can focus on 
getting her life back together.

"The difference now is that I've had clean time," Jena said. "I know 
sober people now, I do the 12 steps and have group support. Who was I 
supposed to turn to before? My drug dealer? Look in the mirror and 
talk to myself when I have bags under my eyes and look like a 
skeleton? My mother?"
- ---
MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman